Random Story of the Week: My Mentee

"My sister, she's 5. My parents work hard, you know? I have to take care of her after school. I waited until she finished with school and then I take her home. Sometimes it's cold, so I cover her and walk her back. I stop by Chinatown or some place to buy dinner before."

Me: "You don't eat with your parents? They don't cook for you?"

"They're working. I usually cook."

My heart kind of ached then as my mentee started to open up about his life. He's a recent immigrant to the states. He's 19, but acts like he's 30. He's a brother, but acts like a dad to his younger sister. He's in America, but speaks Chinese. He's not what you'd expect a senior in high-school to be.

I struggled to converse with him because of our language barrier, but I could read from his eyes and the way he told his story that this was a grown man in a young body. I asked him what he wanted to do after high school.

"I want to join the army," he said. "I want to be a hero."

He was already a hero to me. Someone who exemplified far more responsibility than most high school students nowadays. He kept his family running.

"I think we can work with that," I said. "But do you know about any other opportunities that you may have? It says that you like science, health, economics. You don't think you'd like to try out college?"

"My English is too bad. I have no other option. I'll make some money, and make sure my sister does well. She's 5 and she speaks English. How do I get to the army?"

My heart ached a little more. I didn't want to limit him to that.

Here was a fully capable guy, who's more responsible than half the men out there in this day and age, and he somehow reached a conclusion that there was no option for him at all except to go to the army.

I tried to tell him that there were more options, that English could be learned, that people learn in college too and that as long as he was ready to work really hard for the next 5 years, that he'd be good too. That even if he goes to the army, college could be an option! You are not what you think you are. You're more! And I truly meant it. This guy was different. He cared.

But he just couldn't understand what I was trying to say. I just wanted to be able to speak Chinese right away and tell him straight-up, "There is so much more that you're capable of. What you've accomplished already says much!" But the barrier stood strong.

This whole week, I can't get past that conversation.
I want to be able to speak with him and share with him the love of Christ and the story of hope.

As I reflect and think back on how I came to Christ, I've realized that it wasn't the ability to communicate verbally with my Christian friends that opened my heart to Christ. It was through their actions, their generosity, their Christ-like affection. Those acts of love and care spoke more than words to me and it made me realize the power of the loving God that it just drew my heart to Christ.

I've only started this mentor-mentee relationship, but my prayer is that by the end of the year, I'll have shown him more love and care than he's ever seen from a "stranger" all his life. And the love that I'm giving isn't from me, it's from Christ.

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
- Isaiah 61:1